Dear Families,
Good afternoon and happy February! January proved to be a wonderful month of learning and growth for the students of the OK Corral!
Throughout January, students dove into our IB Unit on relationships, which is already wrapping up this week! They are excited to present their hard work this Friday, February 6th from 11 - 11:45 a.m. in the Commons. We hope you will be able to join us during this time!
Please remember to have your child bring his or her family tree with them on Friday morning as it will be part of their presentations. We hope you have enjoyed working with them on the family trees, we know the students have loved getting to know more about themselves through studying their families.
Students will also be starting new reading goals and word study rounds tomorrow. Please ask your child about their new goal and words.
In reading last week, students read the biographies of various individuals. In groups, students read about Ghandi, Steve Jobs, Amelia Earhart, Milton Hershey, and Sally ride, to name a few. With these biographies, students were asked to analyze the characteristics of these individuals. We pondered the questions, "Who were they? How did they contribute to our world? Who inspired them? Do they inspire us?"
Students were particularly interested in how these individuals embodied many of the IB Learner Profile traits, including the realization that many were knowledgeable, risk-taking, open-minded, caring, and balanced. From this analysis, we asked students to wonder about the way in which they are inspired by those around them, including the subjects of their biographies. During this coming week, students will continue to inquirer into the way their relationships with others impact who they are as individuals, especially as they reread their biographies and reflect upon their own characteristics and sources of inspiration.
Heard around reading circles:
"I really like Sally Ride. She was a risk-taker because she became an astronaut, and she was knowledgeable! I wonder if I could be like her."
"Ghandi was very peaceful, and a lot like Kojo who we learned about in our first IB Unit. I think that you have to be caring if you want to make changes."
"Milton Hershey was a great person! He made delicious chocolate, yum!"
In writing last week, students focused on taking information from their interviews and creating biographies. They have been excitedly working on organizing their writing and completing their rough drafts. By the end of the week, students transitioned into the computer lab to type their final drafts. They are looking forward to presenting their writing this Friday!
Heard around the computer lab:
This week, I worked on my biography. I finally got to typing it. I am on the second page now. I think it will be a great success!" - Polaris
"I like project time when we get to write our biographies" - Myla
"On our biographies, we typed and I did a biography on my dad. We typed the words and put together what his childhood was like. We put those things all together and now we are making it into a small book." - Sarea
"My biography was amazing. I typed one line already, it is about my mom, Randi. I am having fun interviewing my mom!" - Lily
"I am having a fun time doing my biography. It is really fun typing. I finished typing today and did one illustration. I am going to put more details in my illustrations." - Sophia
"My favorite thing this week was typing my biographies. I really liked it. We decorated a lot when we made our biography covers." - Manaal
"I really had fun writing my biography. I learned about my dad, and I really liked having help making the biography." - Charlotte V.
"The process for the biographies was to interview our person, then write our rough draft, now we are typing. Next we will illustrate. My favorite thing to learn about my dad is that he really likes smoothies." - Kaitlyn
"I liked writing the biographies most this week. I have enjoyed typing because I like using the computer!" - Praslin
"I liked typing like Praslin. It is fun because I get to type about my mom and it makes it look really nice." - Micah
"I enjoyed making the covers for our biographies. I got to use a lot of covers and be creative!" - Jasmine
Good afternoon and happy February! January proved to be a wonderful month of learning and growth for the students of the OK Corral!
Throughout January, students dove into our IB Unit on relationships, which is already wrapping up this week! They are excited to present their hard work this Friday, February 6th from 11 - 11:45 a.m. in the Commons. We hope you will be able to join us during this time!
Please remember to have your child bring his or her family tree with them on Friday morning as it will be part of their presentations. We hope you have enjoyed working with them on the family trees, we know the students have loved getting to know more about themselves through studying their families.
Students will also be starting new reading goals and word study rounds tomorrow. Please ask your child about their new goal and words.
In reading last week, students read the biographies of various individuals. In groups, students read about Ghandi, Steve Jobs, Amelia Earhart, Milton Hershey, and Sally ride, to name a few. With these biographies, students were asked to analyze the characteristics of these individuals. We pondered the questions, "Who were they? How did they contribute to our world? Who inspired them? Do they inspire us?"
Students were particularly interested in how these individuals embodied many of the IB Learner Profile traits, including the realization that many were knowledgeable, risk-taking, open-minded, caring, and balanced. From this analysis, we asked students to wonder about the way in which they are inspired by those around them, including the subjects of their biographies. During this coming week, students will continue to inquirer into the way their relationships with others impact who they are as individuals, especially as they reread their biographies and reflect upon their own characteristics and sources of inspiration.
Heard around reading circles:
"I really like Sally Ride. She was a risk-taker because she became an astronaut, and she was knowledgeable! I wonder if I could be like her."
"Ghandi was very peaceful, and a lot like Kojo who we learned about in our first IB Unit. I think that you have to be caring if you want to make changes."
"Milton Hershey was a great person! He made delicious chocolate, yum!"
In writing last week, students focused on taking information from their interviews and creating biographies. They have been excitedly working on organizing their writing and completing their rough drafts. By the end of the week, students transitioned into the computer lab to type their final drafts. They are looking forward to presenting their writing this Friday!
Heard around the computer lab:
This week, I worked on my biography. I finally got to typing it. I am on the second page now. I think it will be a great success!" - Polaris
"I like project time when we get to write our biographies" - Myla
"On our biographies, we typed and I did a biography on my dad. We typed the words and put together what his childhood was like. We put those things all together and now we are making it into a small book." - Sarea
"My biography was amazing. I typed one line already, it is about my mom, Randi. I am having fun interviewing my mom!" - Lily
"I am having a fun time doing my biography. It is really fun typing. I finished typing today and did one illustration. I am going to put more details in my illustrations." - Sophia
"My favorite thing this week was typing my biographies. I really liked it. We decorated a lot when we made our biography covers." - Manaal
"I really had fun writing my biography. I learned about my dad, and I really liked having help making the biography." - Charlotte V.
"The process for the biographies was to interview our person, then write our rough draft, now we are typing. Next we will illustrate. My favorite thing to learn about my dad is that he really likes smoothies." - Kaitlyn
"I liked writing the biographies most this week. I have enjoyed typing because I like using the computer!" - Praslin
"I liked typing like Praslin. It is fun because I get to type about my mom and it makes it look really nice." - Micah
"I enjoyed making the covers for our biographies. I got to use a lot of covers and be creative!" - Jasmine
Last week in mathematics, students inquired into the relationships between addition and subtraction and multiplication and division! These number relationships are vital to student understanding of mathematical concepts, and last week's activities were designed to enable students to learn through the use of hands on manipulatives. This takes the abstract concept and makes it much more accessible and understandable.
For our students exploring multiplication, we inquired into factors! To facilitate understanding, students used technology and manipulatives (red chips) to arrange numbers in as many arrays as possible, so long as each row was equal. This helped students to see the factors of numbers and then draw factor trees. We also learned the meaning of primary and composite numbers, as well as how to check for the correct primary factorization.
For students studying addition and subtraction, students continued to utilize fact families to increase fluency and accuracy with subtraction. When learners recognize number relationships, 10 + 20 = 30 therefore 30 - 20 = 10, they are able to transfer this to more complicated numbers and equations.
We will continue to work on these areas in the coming week!
Heard around the math centers:
"This week I liked doing the factoring in math. I just love how you can make a massive tree of numbers, you have one number and you can go really high with the number, and then you can factor it out. I went up to one million!" - William
"About factoring, a factor is a number or something that multiplies to make a larger number. You can make a factor tree by, well say I had 8, the factors of 8 are 1 and 8, and 4 and 2. 2 is a prime number. A prime number is something that only has two factors, the only way you can do a multiplication problem is 1 times itself. So 2 is a prime number. The factors of 4 would be 2 and 2. So you stop there. How you checked if you factored correctly is if you take all of the prime factors and if you get the answer of what you started with, 2 x 2 x 2 = 8, then I know my tree is correct" - Kyle
"I liked playing math games. I am using square cubes to help me count and add" - Charlotte S.
"If I had to choose my favorite subject from this week, it would have to be math. I really liked that you let us create our own math games this week. I liked creating a game and teaching it to other people." - Isaac
For our students exploring multiplication, we inquired into factors! To facilitate understanding, students used technology and manipulatives (red chips) to arrange numbers in as many arrays as possible, so long as each row was equal. This helped students to see the factors of numbers and then draw factor trees. We also learned the meaning of primary and composite numbers, as well as how to check for the correct primary factorization.
For students studying addition and subtraction, students continued to utilize fact families to increase fluency and accuracy with subtraction. When learners recognize number relationships, 10 + 20 = 30 therefore 30 - 20 = 10, they are able to transfer this to more complicated numbers and equations.
We will continue to work on these areas in the coming week!
Heard around the math centers:
"This week I liked doing the factoring in math. I just love how you can make a massive tree of numbers, you have one number and you can go really high with the number, and then you can factor it out. I went up to one million!" - William
"About factoring, a factor is a number or something that multiplies to make a larger number. You can make a factor tree by, well say I had 8, the factors of 8 are 1 and 8, and 4 and 2. 2 is a prime number. A prime number is something that only has two factors, the only way you can do a multiplication problem is 1 times itself. So 2 is a prime number. The factors of 4 would be 2 and 2. So you stop there. How you checked if you factored correctly is if you take all of the prime factors and if you get the answer of what you started with, 2 x 2 x 2 = 8, then I know my tree is correct" - Kyle
"I liked playing math games. I am using square cubes to help me count and add" - Charlotte S.
"If I had to choose my favorite subject from this week, it would have to be math. I really liked that you let us create our own math games this week. I liked creating a game and teaching it to other people." - Isaac
A few quick reminders:
Curriculum Night will be this Tuesday for 2/3 grade at 5 p.m.
IB Unit Presentations will be this Friday, February 6th from 11 - 11:45 a.m in the Commons. This will be a rotating presentation where you will be able to move from each student to hear their presentation.
Tomorrow is a Spirit Day! Please send your child in their PJS attire!
Friday is a Focus Friday with a 12 p.m. dismissal.
Open Mic will be February 9th at 9 a.m.!
Please remember to send your child to school with snow boots, pants, jackets, and gloves, as well as a pair of indoor shoes! Students will continue to play in the snow during recess this week.
Lastly, there will be no school on February 13th and 16th for Staff Development day and Presidents' Day.
Please have a wonderful rest of your weekend! Contact us with any questions!
Kindly,
Britt and Anne
Curriculum Night will be this Tuesday for 2/3 grade at 5 p.m.
IB Unit Presentations will be this Friday, February 6th from 11 - 11:45 a.m in the Commons. This will be a rotating presentation where you will be able to move from each student to hear their presentation.
Tomorrow is a Spirit Day! Please send your child in their PJS attire!
Friday is a Focus Friday with a 12 p.m. dismissal.
Open Mic will be February 9th at 9 a.m.!
Please remember to send your child to school with snow boots, pants, jackets, and gloves, as well as a pair of indoor shoes! Students will continue to play in the snow during recess this week.
Lastly, there will be no school on February 13th and 16th for Staff Development day and Presidents' Day.
Please have a wonderful rest of your weekend! Contact us with any questions!
Kindly,
Britt and Anne